中國70多縣市取消官員GDP考覈

More than 70 Chinese smaller cities and counties have dropped gross domestic product as a performance metric for government officials, in a bid to shift the focus to environmental protection and reducing poverty.

超過70箇中國較小縣（市）不再把國內生產總值(GDP)作爲考覈政府官員的一項標準，以便將主要精力轉向環境保護及減少貧困。

The move, which follows a directive issued by top leaders last year, is among the first concrete signs of China switching its blind pursuit of economic growth at all costs in favour of more quality of life measures, such as protecting the environment and reducing poverty.

中國最高領導層去年發佈相關指令後，這一舉措是首批跡象之一，顯示中國正在轉變不惜代價盲目追求經濟增長的發展模式，轉而更注重保護環境和減少貧困等民生指標。

Analysts say that adherence to GDP as a performance metric – thus linking it to local officials’ promotion – has contributed to environmental degradation and urban sprawl as officials encouraged heavy industry and bulldozed agricultural land for new housing developments.

分析師表示，將地方官員的政績和晉升與GDP捆綁，導致官員們大力發展重工業，同時爲了蓋新樓而推平農業用地，從而加劇中國的環境退化和城市蔓延。

“Using GDP as the main assessment method has caused a lot of problems, like unequal income distribution, problems with the social welfare system, and environmental costs,” said Xie Yaxuan, head of macroeconomic analysis at China Merchants Securities in Shenzhen.

深圳招商證券(China Merchants Securities)宏觀經濟分析主管謝亞軒(Xie Yaxuan)表示：“把GDP作爲主要考覈方法造成了許多問題，比如收入分配不公、社會福利制度問題、以及環境方面的代價。”

Hebei province, a steelmaking province north of Beijing, and Ningxia, a poor ethnic minority region in the southwest, have all cancelled GDP-based assessment for poor counties and cities, the official Xinhua news has reported in recent months.

官方的新華社近月報道，環繞北京的鍊鋼大省河北省和西北貧窮的少數民族地區寧夏都取消了對貧困縣（市）的GDP考覈。

Evaluation will instead be based on raising living standards for poor residents and reducing the number of people living in poverty.

相反，對幹部的評估將把提高貧困人口生活水平和減少貧困人口數量作爲主要指標。

“We need to look at obvious achievements as well as hidden achievements,” President Xi Jinping told party leaders in June. “We can no longer simply use GDP growth rates to decide who the (party) heroes are.”

今年6月，中國國家主席習近平曾向黨內領導人表示：“既看顯績又看潛績，把民生改善、社會進步、生態效益等指標和實績作爲重要考覈內容，再也不能簡單以國內生產總值增長率來論英雄了。”

The directive was outlined in a landmark economic reform blueprint released late last year at a key Communist party meeting.

去年末，至關重要的中共十八屆三中全會發布了一份里程碑式的改革藍圖，其中提到這一指令。

Fujian province, the coastal province that is a centre of export processing and light manufacturing, announced earlier this month that it would replace GDP with metrics on agricultural development and environmental protection for 34 agriculturally and ecologically important counties.

這個月早些時候，沿海的出口加工業和輕工製造業中心福建省宣佈，取消對34個農業和生態重要的縣（市）的GDP考覈，代之以農業優先和生態保護優先的績效考評。

It is unclear whether the lessened importance of GDP will spread to larger, richer cities, where powerful patronage networks have developed between government officials and traditional industries that have grown rich on the old growth model.

目前還不清楚這種降低GDP重要性的做法是否會推廣到規模更大、更富有的城市。在這些城市裏，通過舊的增長模式致富的傳統產業與政府官員之間建立了強大的利益網絡。

Officials in these cities have built successful careers from on GDP-based evaluation, making it difficult to adjust their Policy focus.

這些城市的官員正是通過基於GDP的政績考覈打造成功仕途的，這使得他們很難調整政策焦點。

Zhang Gaoli, who was appointed to China’s elite seven-member Politburo Standing Committee in late 2012, made a name for himself in part by propelling GDP growth in the megacity of Tianjin, south of Beijing.

在一定程度上，在2012年末成爲中國最核心的中共中央政治局七名常委之一的張高麗，就是因爲推動超大城市天津的GDP增長而成名的。

After Mr Zhang became party secretary in late 2007, Tianjin’s GDP growth averaged 16.1 per cent from 2008 to 2012, up a full percentage point from the previous five-year period, even as China’s overall annual GDP growth slowed sharply to 8.8 per cent in the same period, down from 11.9 per cent in the previous five-year period.

2007年底張高麗擔任天津市委書記之後，2008年到2012年間天津市GDP增長率平均達到16.1%，比此前五年高了整整一個百分點。而在同一時期內，中國總體的GDP年增長率從此前五年的11.9%急劇放緩至8.8%。

Mr Zhang boosted growth with massive building projects like the Yujiapu Financial District, a warren of skyscrapers conceived as China’s answer to Manhattan. But today many of the buildings sit virtually empty and growth in Tianjin has slowed this year.

張高麗提升GDP增長率的方法是上馬像于家堡金融區這樣的大規模建設項目。這個摩天大樓林立的地方被構想成中國版曼哈頓。然而今天那裏的許多建築幾乎空置，而天津市今年的增長也已放緩。

Policy loopholes could also hamper efforts to transform China’s growth model. Coal-rich Shanxi province, in central China, has removed GDP growth from the list of assessments but added per-capita GDP. This change could have little impact, as China’s population growth is slow.

政策漏洞也可能妨礙中國轉變增長模式的努力。中國中部盛產煤炭的山西省從政績考覈的清單上取消了GDP增速這一項，但增添了人均GDP的指標。由於中國人口增長緩慢，這一調整不會有什麼實際影響。